Friday, May 20, 2005

Dying Too Often, Too Soon

Cyrus posted the following article about the Abysmal Health Care of Black Women , which is another new study that finds that black women are dying at a rate higher than any other group in America. If you look at the statistics below, you have to agree that Black women should be placed on the endangered species list. Between 1991 - 2000, researchers discovered that more than 800,000 African Americans died during that decade because they didn't receive the same health care as their white counterpartsBlack women are in the vanguard of those receiving inferior health care, with greater incidence of and mortality from nearly every major disease, including diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, and some forms of cancer:Diabetes rates have tripled among African Americans over the past three decades.- ~12% of black women over 20 have diabetes - 25% of black women over 55 have this condition.

* 40% of black women have high blood pressure.

* Black women are 69 percent more likely to have heart disease and heart attacks, and they have a 70 percent greater chance of dying of heart disease.

* Black women accounted for 69 percent of new HIV diagnoses from 2000 to 2003 and have a rate of HIV/AIDS infection that is 18 times higher than that of white women. This is the only part of the study that is not verifiable. The rest is unfortunately true.

* Although cancer is the second-leading cause of death for all women, black women have the greatest number of deaths from cancer of the breast, colon, pancreas, and stomach.

The Root of the Problem according to the study

*Lack of access to adequate health care isn't the only racial disparity.* Bad Habits: (This may be true in certain circumstances)* Education:* Environment:

*Nutrition: Many black women have poor nutritional habits because they live in neighborhoods that don't always offer affordable, healthy food options. The level of physical activity is also often lower in the African-American community than it should be. As a result, African-American women are more likely to be overweight or obese than white women.

Excess weight has been linked to increased rates of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and certain cancers. None of us can deny that many Black women are too heavy, who am I kidding, severely overweight. The increase in weight corresponds with the onset of the health conditions that are being observed. It's all about nutritional habits. A change of diets can reverse the unhealthy trends. At some point, I think I need to illustrate what is happening with the food. * Poverty: Though African Americans make up only 13 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 24 percent of the nations poor.